Although babies and young children are at lower risk of getting very sick with Covid-19 compared to older adults, a small proportion of bab...
Although babies and young children are at lower risk of getting very sick with Covid-19 compared to older adults, a small proportion of babies will require hospital care.
There has been immense interest among scientists, healthcare workers and new mothers especially in understanding whether potentially protective antibodies against SARS-CoV-2 (the virus that causes Covid-19) can be provided to babies via breast milk.
But what does the evidence tell us? Does a natural Covid infection lead to SARS-CoV-2 antibodies in a woman’s breast milk, and how long do these last? What about after vaccination? If natural Covid-19 infections and vaccination do produce antibodies in a woman’s breast milk, does this mean babies of these mothers will be protected against Covid-19? And could antibody-filled milk be used as a treatment somehow?
There are now several studies looking at breast milk antibody responses in women who have had Covid-19, while research is increasingly exploring breast milk antibody responses in mothers following vaccination with an mRNA vaccine.
After Covid-19 infection, antibodies have been found to persist in breast milk for at least six months, with emerging data suggesting they are still abundant ten months later. Antibodies are found in breast milk even after mild SARS-CoV-2 infections, and in women who have no symptoms at all.
Meanwhile, the breast milk of women who are...
